Bird lovers flock to Thornybush

Although the focus is, and will probably always remain on the Big Five when visiting a private nature reserve, there is much enjoyment to be gained from pursuing our feathered friends while on safari too.Thornybush has a recorded bird list of over 280 species and is an excellent destination for bird watching. It is a good idea to book a private gam...

One of the Big Six – the Saddle-Billed Stork

We've all heard of the Big Five wild animals which started out as the most desired species to hunt and are now firmly entrenched on the bucket-list of every safari-lover. Add the Southern right whale and the great white shark to the list and you have the Big Seven of the Eastern Cape, but did you know there is also a Big Six on the list of sp...

The Hamerkop

The name of the hamerkop, Scopus umbretta, comes from the Afrikaans words 'hammer' and 'head' and refers to its appearance, which is similar to that of the shoebill heron. In Xhosa and Zulu it is referred to as Uthekwane – the Lightning bird. In traditional folklore, the Lightning Bird is a man-size creature with an insatiable appetite for blood ...

It’s Baby Waterbuck Time

Summer time is the best for spotting waterbuck calves, which are normally born after the summer rains. Although they are concealed in dense bush by their mothers for the first few weeks of their lives, before long the youngsters can be seen playfully skipping alongside their dam as part of the herd.Waterbuck usually give birth to one offspring afte...

Surprising Uses for Elephant Dung (Part Two)

We've already established in part one to this series, that the copious amounts of waste produced by elephants can be used to create trendy coffee, beer and hand-made paper, but elephant manure also has some more practical uses, such as:Gas Always eager to conserve the environment, zoos and animal sanctuaries have taken animal-poop technology even ...

Surprising Uses for Elephant Dung (Part One)

Elephants spend most of their lives eating, to the tune of about 250kg a day and the by-product of this excess is around 50kg of dung a day. In countries like Botswana, with high elephant populations, this can add up to a staggering amount of 650 000 kg a day.With necessity being closely related to invention, it is not surprising that some us...